EP 003
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Full Transcript
Hi, so happy to have you here! This is where I share my thoughts on how design changed the way I think and do, and why I think design is simply a part of life. My name is Sandy, and I’m A Design Mentor.
In the previous two episodes (Episode 1, Episode 2), I talked about how I got into design and why I started mentoring. This time, I’m going to share why I decided to start A Design Mentor.
Putting together a collection of thoughts about design has been brewing in my head for a few years. It all started when I began mentoring. The constant discussion with students about what design actually means had forced me to become more contemplative. Working on showing the hows also pushed me to communicate intentionally with a simpler language. I thought about my personal relationship with design often. But do I really want to put together this collection? What would be the purpose of it? I wasn’t sure yet. So I left this little seed sit in dormant for the next few years.
During that time, a lot changed in my life. I moved out of New York. I moved to Taiwan. After the move, I spent about 18 months giving myself the time and space to learn all the things I’ve always wanted to learn but never had time to, like tea making, watercolor painting and kintsugi. I downsized my belongings drastically, while I don’t strive to be a minimalist, I really enjoyed becoming an essentialist. And yes, during this time, Covid happened.
Perhaps it was because Covid happened that I was able to do all of the above. I didn’t know what this period of time would mean to me at the time. The confusion and frustration when the pandemic first broke out had overwhelmed me too much. But now, looking back, instead of thinking of it as a nightmare, I realized the slow down and sudden changes were to gently push me towards pivoting again in my life.
The move to Taiwan was quite symbolic for me. I moved away when I was 13, so moving back as a grownup, was in itself, a huge step. Yes, ever since I moved abroad I’ve been coming back to visit annually, but each visit was almost always just a 2-week trip. Usually after a whirlwind of non-stop eating with family and friends, I’d leave to go back to my “real” life in The States. This pattern repeated for over two decades, so what was going to be different this time? It surely was just a temporary stay again. I had been hopeful about the pandemic ending, thinking that it would be over in a year, tops. So our stay in Taiwan would be no longer than six months. Well, what did I know? it’s now been three full years.
I watched the 6-month mark come and go, and all of Asia was still under strict lockdown. I eventually told myself to stop focusing on what I couldn't control, but to just focus on living a new life.
With 50% of our belongings, especially our furniture, still back in The States in a storage, I started to ask myself questions. What do I truly need on a daily basis to survive? What makes me feel whole and not deprived? What is my ideal way of living? What skillsets should I add to my toolbox in order to live the life I want? Instead of achieving what the world tells me to, what do I want to achieve personally? These deep, deep questions kept popping up in my head, and they were constant discussion points between my husband and I.
As I allow myself the space to learn and morph, the thought of starting A Design Mentor never went away. Because I slowed my life down, so I was able to shift my attention and notice the design behind every single thing. Instead of just focusing on digital products because I had to for work, I started to see deeply into the everyday design around me. Those bridges connecting services, businesses and people are everywhere, it’s not that I never knew this before, but I’m finally able to take my time to see them.
I also notice that being a designer had completely changed the way I look at problems, compared to my younger self. Maybe not just problems, but everything I have to figure out in life.
Here are a couple silly examples. During the trip we took to New York last year, I stayed at an Airbnb on the Jersey side. In order to get to the city daily, I had to hop on the Path. On my daily walks to the Path station, I always have to cross this terrible intersection by the station. There was a three-way traffic for cars, and the pedestrian walk bridge was on the other side of the street, unreachable. One morning, as I stood at the intersection waiting for the walk sign to light up, I find myself redesigning the intersection in my head. How would I design this walkway so crossing it felt more easy? Where would I move the walk bridge? How would I connect the crosswalk with the station sidewalk? As soon as I notice myself doing this, I started laughing inside. OH MY GOD, Sandy, stop! Just cross the street already.
I noticed myself planning grocery and putting together meals the same way. I would first try to observe the situation and ask myself a bunch of questions, what are in season? what is the weather going to be like for the next few days? How do I feel physically? How many days do I need to eat out this week? How do I balance the colors and textures on the plate? How much time do I want to spend in the kitchen daily? I think through it all, then I'd put together the ingredients for the next few days to a week. Come dinner time, I just never really had to stress much any more.
You’re probably thinking, this is design? Yes, absolutely. The core of any design, is to solve a problem. The problem at the intersection was that it slowed down the pedestrians and it was dangerous. The problem for grocery was to figure out the most efficient way to put healthy and pleasant dinners that incorporated seasonal produce.
The more I slow down to observe and look, the more I realize we are all trying to solve problems.
This was exciting news for me. I felt like I finally found the reason to kick off A Design Mentor. I want to tell people how design is a part all of our lives, because we are all solving problems on a daily basis. I want to explain the design process, the vocabulary, and the mindset in a simpler language. But most importantly, to connect. As I continue to share here, I really hope to get to hear your stories as well.
Here is a question, what is the one thing you love about design?
Next time, I will share my thoughts on the difference between an artist and a designer.
If you’d like to hear more, please subscribe, and turn on your notifications, I am beyond excited to go on this journey with you.
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